Niterider - Who's doing it, who for and any special equipment?

I've done it three times, don't underestimate the cold, plenty of layers but no one piece too thick. Plenty of food too, though you get bananas and chocolate at the rest stops, and at Alexandra Palace, there is a food truck.

If you're using a garmin, consider playing with the settings to save power as I found mine dying with the backlight on consistently.

The route for this year has been uploaded in the Participants Area of the Nightrider website as a .gpx file.

Looking forward to seeing the Velodrome.

Feel a bit sorry for those starting at Ally Pally as you go through London in the dark and get the generally boring bits when the sun is coming up

I did Nightrider last year. I had a Lezyne Micro Drive front and rear and a Topeak led bar light on the back. They were all still going when I finished after about 6 hours of riding but they were not really needed after about 4.30am as the sun was on it's way up.

Some people were lit up light Christmas trees, literally, with battery powered led lights all over the place.

I tended to ride with groups of other riders so there was plenty of red lights to show you were there and in general the street lighting was more than adequate for seeing where you were going.

I did the ride on a 40 year old steel Peugeot with only 10 gears so don't worry too much about replacing parts unless they are really worn. There was one bloke on an old Marin mountain bike that probably hadn't seen a spanner of sponge for 3 or 4 years. You could here him coming from 50m away and he made it to the finish OK.

On the Hi-Viz, which you must wear along with a helmet, you are given a very fetching orange tabard on the night. I've still got mine. It undoes all your layering efforts by trapping your sweat between your outer shell layer and the tabard.

On the training. I have to confess that the longest prep ride I did was about 23 miles. Unless you're looking to blitz it, which is not really the purpose, the breaks every 20K give you a chance to relax and recoup before the next stage. Above all have fun and take time out to stop and take pictures especially as were going to Buck House and the Velodrome this year.

Do you know how long your batteries last, and how long you are expecting the ride to take? Also how much time before and after will you need your lights? How much fluoro clothing have you got? Food and drink too, shops will probably be closed, so you'll need to allow for that.

Hi.
I'm doing Nightrider too. Where are you starting from?
Mine's CP at about 11.30pm.